Know Your Risk

No matter where you live or work, you are exposed to natural hazards. Many of these hazards may be known to you, but possibly not well understood. For instance, earthquakes occur without warning and effect everyone in a region within seconds. But the amount of shaking depends on many factors such as magnitude, location, the type of soil under your building, the type of building you're in, etc. Certainly some parts of the world have more earthquake risk than others, but you may travel to these areas on vacation, for work, or for school.

The good news: by understanding your risk, you can take the right steps to minimize or avoid injuries, damage, and long-term financial consequences.

ShakeOut ScenarioThis detailed analysis of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the southern San Andreas fault was produced in 2008 as the basis of the Golden Guardian exercise and first-even ShakeOut earthquake drill, and is a product of the United States Geological Survey, Multi-Hazard Demonstration Project, led by Dr. Lucy Jones.